MORRISBURG – About 15 community volunteers are needed October 25 at the Morrisburg waterfront for a full day of gardening. Michael Burton and Rosemary Laurin are volunteering their time to help see the Watersheds Canada Natural Edge project come to fruition.
Started by the Morrisburg Waterfront Committee, which successfully received $5,000 funding for the shoreline naturalization planting program, Burton and Laurin are hoping that volunteer gardeners will see this as the latest waterfront Morrisburg improvement community initiative through which members of the community gather and work together and join them.
“I see it a lot like the day we all got together and built a playground,” said Laurin. “It is a lot like that,” added Burton. “Many hands make light the work. Also, working together on a project like this gives the community some ownership over making their waterfront community space better.”
Burton asks that people bring their own gardening gloves and tools (shovel, wheelbarrow, exacto knife, kneeling pad, etc.) and help. Chloe Lajoie of Watersheds Canada is overseeing the project which will create a buffer of more indigenous species of plants and wildflowers along the shoreline.
This naturalization of the river’s edge is meant to help with erosion control and act as a minor deterrent for geese.
The area being planted goes from the west end of the Morrisburg beach towards the pier.
Anyone planning to volunteer on October 25 to help with the planting is asked to send an email to rlaurin52@gmail.com.
This will not be the only opportunity to volunteer with this project, since volunteers will be needed to help weed and maintain the planting buffer over the next five years.